Most people coming to a show at the O2 stay somewhere they have heard of. Greenwich proper, half a mile down the road. Canary Wharf across the river. Sometimes the Premier Inn by Greenwich Park because it shows up first. None of these are wrong. They are also not optimal, and most concert-goers would change their mind if they understood the actual geography.
North Greenwich is the area immediately around the O2 Arena itself. It is its own place, with its own tube stop, and the venue you came to see is a four-minute walk from the apartment block we run. This piece is a quiet attempt to convince you that staying right by the venue is the move, and to give you what we would tell a guest who asked us where to eat and what to do on the day of a show.
A note on what we are. Lush Homes Collection runs a small number of serviced apartments in London.
North Greenwich tube station is on the Jubilee Line. From a central station like Bond Street it is sixteen minutes door to door. The tube exits directly into the bus and taxi interchange. From there it is sixty seconds to the O2 entrance. The whole peninsula is laid out in a horseshoe with the venue at the top and apartment blocks, restaurants, and the cable car arranged around it. Walk anywhere in twelve minutes. After a show, you do not need a taxi.
This is what surprises people. The Peninsula is not just a venue; it is a small neighbourhood that grew up alongside it. Within five minutes on foot, you have the Emirates Air Line cable car, which crosses the river to Royal Victoria Docks. It is genuinely good as a piece of city sightseeing, particularly at sunset.
The Design District opened in 2021 and houses about thirty small businesses, a food hall, and rotating exhibitions. The food hall is the move on a wet evening when you want a beer and a quiet meal.
There is a riverside path that runs from the cable car back round to North Greenwich tube. About a kilometre. The Thames Path proper joins it. We have walked it a thousand times and it never stops being a good way to start a morning
If you have an afternoon free before a show, Greenwich Park is one tube stop away and contains the Royal Observatory. The Cutty Sark, the Maritime Museum, and the riverside pubs of historical Greenwich are all there. The whole area is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
This is the section we get asked about most. Honest list.
Craft London on the Peninsula does the most reliable seasonal British food in walking distance. It is moderately expensive. We send guests there for anniversaries and the occasional pre-show.
Hawker House at the Design District is a food hall in a former shipping-container build. Lighter than Craft, better for groups, louder.
Lupins, just inside the Greenwich Peninsula development, does breakfasts that we genuinely look forward to. Coffee is also serious.
For pre-show, the easiest move is to eat inside the O2 itself. There are about thirty restaurants. Wahaca and Slim Chickens both do the job without disappointing you.
The question we get is whether to book a hotel or an apartment. Honest comparison.
A hotel near the O2 means the InterContinental, Hilton, or Holiday Inn Express. All within ten minutes of the venue. Best for one night, one or two people, no kitchen needed.
An apartment is better if you are coming for more than one night, want to eat at home some of the time, are travelling with family, or want a quieter morning after the show.
The part nobody plans for. After a concert at the O2, ten thousand people leave the venue in the space of thirty minutes. The tube is briefly overwhelmed. Taxis are difficult.
If you are walking back to an apartment four minutes away, you are in your front door before the tube queue has shifted. If you are heading to Canary Wharf or Greenwich, you wait. This is the single biggest practical argument for staying closer.
If you are arriving from Heathrow, the Elizabeth Line plus Jubilee Line takes about ninety minutes. From Stansted, the Stansted Express plus Jubilee Line is about ninety. From Gatwick, the Thameslink plus Jubilee Line is similar.
The North Greenwich Sainsbury's is sixty seconds from the tube and is open until eleven.
If you are bringing a car, parking on the Peninsula is paid and limited. We do not recommend it.
We run professionally cleaned serviced apartments, designed for corporate and event guests, with the same level of detail we insist on in our own homes.
If you want any other advice on North Greenwich, the best person to ask is whoever is hosting you. Most of the operators here know the area well. The Peninsula is small enough that the answer to "where should I eat" is usually a single specific recommendation, not a list.
Have a good show.